Thursday, May 31, 2007

Potter Pooper

On July 21st, the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series will hit the shelves. However, Harry has more than Lord Voldemort to worry about. A Georgia mother is trying to have Potter and his adventures banned from public school libraries.

Laura Mallory believes that the Harry Potter series promotes witchcraft, and since some people practice witchcraft, the books violate the Constitution's separation of church and state. She has been trying to ban the books since 2005. In May 2006, the county denied Mallory's demands and the decision was upheld by the Georgia Board of Education later that year.

The county cited that Harry Potter books "are good tools to encourage children to read and to spark creativity and imagination."

Mallory may be taking her case to Federal Court. She believes that she will have more weight if she hires an attorney, rather than representing herself.

She remains worried about the welfare of children who read the popular stories. "They don't want the Easter Bunny's power. The children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it." She also said "I have a dream that God will be welcomed back in our schools again. I think we need Him."

My Opinion: OK, so let's recap. Mallory wants Harry Potter out because witchcraft is a religion and therefore is in violation of church and state. But then she dreams of a day that God will be back in the schools. Pretty sure that would violate church and state too.

So, she has completely contradicted herself. Basically she should be saying "I'm an evangelical Christian that is overreacting about a children's book. I like my own religion, but nothing else." What a poor picture to paint for the evangelical community, and all Christians.

I enjoy the fact that children don't want to be a giant rabbit. I think that if your child wants to be a large furry mammal that delivers colored eggs around the world, you have bigger problem on your hands than them reading a book.

She also said "The children in our generation want Harry's power, and they're getting it". I don't know of any child with a working magic wand, a flying broom, and goes out hanging around ancient castles fighting evil.

Sounds cool, but this person needs to realize that it is, sadly, a world of make believe. When children get to the age where they can read Harry Potter, they should be able to draw the line between reality and imaginary.

Harry Potter is was sparked my interest in reading back in 8th grade. I'm happy to report that I am still a Christian that hasn't been sucked into a cult of witchcraft via reading. I have reserved my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows and cannot wait for July 21st.

Maybe Mallory should try reading the book for herself before she passes judgement on them. Nah, that would be too Christ-like.

About

About Me

My name is James O'Leary and I'm originally from the village of Assonet, Massachusetts. I currently reside in Boston where I attended and recently graduated from Emerson College with a BS in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in political science. For the past few years I've worked as a reporter and producer for WEBN-TV, EIV News, and PoliticalPulse.net.